GRANDES MISES
SAINT-AMOUR 2020
Grape varietal
Black Gamay with white juice.
Serving suggestions
It would be recommended to appreciate this wine quite fresh, between 15 and 18°C. (59-64°F.), in order to be seduced by the complexity of its aromas.
Food and wine pairing
Poultry with cream and morrels pairs perfectly with this Saint-Amour.
Ageing potential
This Saint-Amour is full of charm in its youth. It can also be aged more than 5 years.
Origins
We all recognise that this most Northern Cru bears a name which is gentle to the ear and to the heart. It is the wine of poets and lovers. If it did not exist, life would be a little less charming. The village of Saint Amour gives its name to this wine. Before that, a long time ago during Gallo-Roman times, a centurion named Amor belonging to the Thébaine Legion, stationed in the Valais region of Switzerland and famous for his Christian faith suffered martyrdom. In all evidence, the ways of lovers, with their pleasures and sorrows, are rarely easy. Today the wine of Saint Amour shows two faces, according to the soil composition and indeed the vinification technique.
Terroir
The slighty slopes are the results of a strong alteration of old rocks. The extraordinary diversity of this cru can be explained by the presence of the two juxtaposed flaws: the limestone and the granitic soils.
Vine and soil
Vineyard age: 47 years old.
Yield: 56 hectoliters per hectar.
A rigorous plot selection is made on single estate.
Vines are planted on sandy soil, with old pebbly soils.They are pruned « en gobelet ». They are managed with substainable farming methods. It gives a extraordinary complexity to the Gamay wine!
Vintage : 2020
Gorgeous colors and mouth-filling wines!
Winter 2019-2020 was the warmest in France since the beginning of the 20th century. There was no hard frost at all. The average temperatures in the Beaujolais region over the first four months of the year were the mildest since 1947!
Very fine grapes that are extremely aromatic. The quantity of the harvest has varied from appellation to appellation and terroir to terroir. Intense colour and good acidity.
The harvests
18th August: the harvest begins with the Côte de Brouilly (21 days ahead of 2019!)
20th August: Beaujolais Village.
28th August: the whole Beaujolais region is hard at work.
19th September: the harvest finishes.
This year has been marked by tremendous diversity between different plots, these having reacted differently to the extreme weather conditions (lack of rain over much of the year and hot conditions). Some plots have lost a lot of juice, others have coped marvellously well! Several factors account for these differences: the soil, siting and exposure to sunlight, age, the yield of individual vines etc…
As a result, key variables are different from one wine to another. Potential alcohol fluctuates between 12° and 15°. The Gamays have good aromatic potential with a thick epicuticular wax layer (bloom).
This year we have favoured destemming with long maceration periods to really bring out the elegance of this vintage. Obviously, the traditional semi-carbonic maceration approach used in tandem with vendange entière is still called for to draw out our Gamay’s aromatic subtlety, not to mention hot pre-fermentative maceration to extract as much colour as possible from the grapes that were most affected by drought.
Initial tastings, Lydie Nesme.
‘It’s a journey through the senses that’s intense and complex, a real pleasure for the taste buds, with aromas of raspberry, cherry, morello cherry and even pear! It’s a real delight to test the must with all the gorgeous colours it exhibits!
Our Beaujolais’ aromatic palette is a broad one, ranging from raspberry liqueur, ripe Burlat cherries in syrup, smooth crème de cassis and wild blueberry to floral notes of violet, iris and peony, liquorice and dark chocolate. Mouth-filling despite high levels of acidity in some cases. The wines are supple, round and smooth, well-structured with supple, silky tannins. An elegant vintage in the making.’
